“The Tale of the Heike” is an account that was written in Japan in the 13th century. It mainly tells about the struggle for power between the two clans. The stories of the book also comment on Japanese religion (Buddhism) and describe ethics and values of people of that time. But the most important point of the book is its portrayal of the Japanese culture as a culture of war. In this paper, I’m going to prove that Japan viewed itself as a war culture and that its main purpose was developing such character traits as loyalty and honesty. I’m also going to talk about how this book and many other similar ones shapes others’ perception of Japan as of a ruthless nation that has been going for the world conquest for centuries.
Throughout history, Japan has been focusing on its military achievements. Boys were brought up knowing that their ultimate purpose was to serve their country and help it expand. Girls were raised to be conforming and obedient to their husbands. Although the Japanese society was very conservative and patriarchal, it did have a great number of military victories. “The Tale of the Heike” tells about why and how war was worshipped in the Japanese society. Their appreciation of martial arts is thousand years old; in Asia, it wasn’t easy for democracy to be easily established, and it is known that even nowadays some of the Asian countries suffer from oppression from their rulers. This is due to the fact that Asia is very old, and its values are firmly built into the society. They are passed from generation to generation and never change. Thus, “The Tale of the Heike” talks so much about the greatness of the samurais and teaches the readers how to be like them. Samurais were highly respected in the society. They were honored because of their strength, bravery and the ability to sacrifice themselves for a higher purpose.
An important part of the Japanese ethics is self-sacrifice. In “The Tale of the Heike”, there are many occasions of suicide (which wasn’t considered to be abnormal like in the modern world). One of the numerous cases is when Yorimasa sticks a sword into his belly. A contemporary reader might feel disguised and scared, but in Japanese culture, one could easily take his own life away. This culture even has a term “honor suicide”, which is used when someone lost a battle and doesn’t want to be captured. Moreover, even if there is no threat of being captured, one still performs an honor suicide in order not to experience shame and not to transmit it to his family. “The Tale of the Heike” proves that for the Japanese, living in dishonor is the worst that can happen to a human being. And they would rather choose such a torturous death! Often, people would take poison (although it hurt not less than cutting oneself with a sword) as it was considered to be a “cleaner” death. But here we witness how Yorimasa kills himself with a sword, which is hard to do to another person, not even mentioning oneself.
Obedience was one of the most respected character traits in the Japanese society of the past. For them, teachers are raised to the level of gods. Listening to one’s teacher and following his advices was a necessary thing to do. Arguing with a teacher was considered unforgivable. And there was a clear hierarchy: future samurais listened to their trainers, men listened to samurais and wanted to be like them, and women and children listened to men. Obedience was surely something that kept the whole empire together and created perfect discipline. It is known that Japanese army is considered one of the most professional only due to its flawless discipline.
Interestingly enough, a huge part of “The Tale of the Heike” is about Buddhism and Buddhist teachings. It becomes puzzling when the reader remembers that Buddhism is all about not harming another living creature and living in peace with the world and with oneself. But, of course, like in any other religion, there are many different interpretations, and some of the Buddhist interpretations actually talk about salvation through death (suicide.) This also shows the reader how important religion was in the Japanese culture. The Japanese, however, didn’t die for their gods like Muslims and Christians did. The teachings of Buddhism could only support them, but not entirely shape their mindset. They were pretty independent for that kind of thing.
We cannot claim that the Japanese culture was not violent. Due to its enormous appreciation of war, Japan conquered and enslaves many nations throughout centuries. Struggling for power, people killed their own relatives. Later on, it oppressed many counties like Taiwan and Korea. But the myths about samurais and Japanese warriors remain beautiful because of their idealization of the past events. Suicides and murders are ugly, and where there is death there is always grief. But in the books like “The Tale of the Heike”, death is represented as an honor. There is a lot of controversy in this book, and a lot of things don’t make sense to a contemporary reader. When I was reading it, it reminded me a lot of the images from Kurosawa’s films, where a lot of attention is paid to martial arts, samurais and their lives and struggle for respect. The books like “The Tale of the Heike”, just like Kurosawa’s films, shape our perception of the culture, although such sources are very often biased.
Works Cited
McCullough, Helen Craig. The Tale of the Heike. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1988. Web.
